Aliens

Past, Present, Future

Watkins Publishing 2017

Hb, 224pp, illus, gloss, further reading, ind, £25.00, ISBN 9781780289687

This hefty, gloriously produced, large format hardback covers the topic of aliens, as its title suggests, in three parts: past, present and future.

The ‘past’ section, ‘Worlds Other Than Our Own’, surveys how over the past 400 years our perception of the world has expanded from beyond our tiny planet to the vast reaches of the Universe.

The biggest game changer came when Galileo Galilei (1554–1642) aimed a primitive telescope at the heavens and discovered that the planets were irregular bodies much like Earth rather than special types of stars. When it became accepted that we live on a planet that circles the Sun, along with other planets, asteroids and comets in the Solar System, it inevitably led to speculation that life might exist ‘out there’.

Many of the imagined aliens were complete fantasy or used for satirical effect, although some writers did make an effort to consider the impact of different environments on biological outcomes.

For instance, as early as 1634, German astronomer Johannes Kepler speculated, in what is perhaps the first science fiction novel Somnium, that the inhabitants of the Moon would need to find shade or grow protective shells to survive the intense heat during a lunar day. Alternatively, Gabriel Daniel in A Voyage to the World of Cartesius, 60 years later, imagined bodiless, spiritual entities living on the Moon.

By the end of the 19th century, humanoid aliens were used as a vehicle to expound philosophical and religious ideas and their authors were not too bothered about keeping to scientific facts. Miller says that the creepy Martians in HG Wells’s The War of the Worlds (1898) were the first genuinely non-human aliens to appear in fiction. Other Victorian aliens ranged from winged (Mothmantypes!) and amphibious monsters on Mars to saintly humanoids. In part two, ‘The Science of Extraterrestrial Life”, Miller details how life originated on Earth and how our increasing scientific knowledge about the Solar System and beyond has refined how we imagine life evolving elsewhere in the Universe. Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg, for example, stated in 1758: “That there are many earths, and men upon them.”

Mars, being very similar to Earth, became the prime focus for speculation that it harboured intelligent life. Networks of canals were seen on its surface, inspiring Percival Lowell to popularise the idea that these were built by Martians to collect water from the polar caps of Mars. Others, including HG Wells, were more sceptical. “We shall find no flies nor sparrows nor dogs nor cats on Mars”. From here, Miller looks at the recent discovery of exoplanets and the hunt for those that may show signs of life.

Part three, ‘Aliens Among Us’ takes up half of the book. Miller looks at how the coming of the flying saucers in 1947 made people believe that aliens were visiting us from outer space. He reviews the similar US 1896–97 ‘airship’ sighting craze to warn us that what people observe in the sky “...is something a little more amorphous and vague than most observers might believe. How many ordinary but unfamiliar natural phenomena were given wheels, wings, propellers or disc-shapes by the expectations of the observer, who believed these were the features it must have?”

Miller also takes into account how folklore and early science fiction aliens have shaped what UFO witnesses and abductees report seeing and ‘experiencing’ today. He is particularly good at showing the importance of pulp science fiction and cinema in shaping these perceptions until they have created accepted norms (like spindly, big-headed, grey aliens or philosophical humanoids).

Using his background as an art illustrator and science fiction novelist, Miller provides us with a colourful trip through the alien universe employing a wide range of high-quality illustrations that include centuries-old engravings, book, comic and magazine art, movie posters and UFO photographs.

Whether or not we will ever openly come into contact with intelligent alien beings is something only the future will tell. In the meantime, Miller gives us plenty of food for thought.